Fireball flies over Stockholm

Residents of Stockholm spotted a bright "fireball" in the sky on Tuesday evening and reported it to emergency services, Sweden Herald reports. The object was also observed over the Aland Islands in the Baltic Sea, where a loud bang was heard at the same time.

Uppsala University astronomer Erik Stempels suggested that it was a bolide, a particularly bright meteor moving at very high speed. He said the bang over the sea was the sound of an explosion caused by the meteor burning up in the atmosphere. He estimated that the bolide exploded at an altitude of about 30 kilometers.

Stempels noted that meteors can be seen almost every night, but such an impressive spectacle as the one seen by the residents of Stockholm happens about once every five years.

Authors: